An edition of I Never Played the Game (1985)

I never played the game

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I never played the game
Howard Cosell, Howard Cosell
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Last edited by ImportBot
December 10, 2022 | History
An edition of I Never Played the Game (1985)

I never played the game

  • 1 Want to read
  • 1 Have read

More portentous, self-conscious, and sanctimonious effusions from the voluble sportscaster whose stock in trade is grandiloquence.""I am writing this book because I am convinced that sports are out of whack in the American society,"" Cosell states in his prologue. Perhaps so, and let's hear more. In the twilight of a remarkable 32-year career, however, he chooses instead to even a lot of scores. A favorite target: the so-called ""jockocracy"" of former athletes who now dominate the airwaves. In his less-than-humble opinion, they are little more than inept shills for the games they cover. (Cosell is at some pains to point out that the title of his apologia has several levels of meaning, e.g., that he was never a professional athlete and that he refused to play ball with either advertisers or club owners.) Singled out for particularly harsh words are sometime Monday Night Football colleagues--Frank Gifford, Don Meredith, O.J. Simpson, Fran Tarkenton, et al. Also on his hit list are the likes of Arthur Ashe, Larry Holmes, Shirley Povich, and Pete Rozelle. Many of Cosell's causes--notably, vagrant franchises, apartheid, and boxing mismatches made to meet TV commitments--are worthy. Unfortunately, he lavishes as much if not more attention on purely personal injuries. A whole chapter, for example, is devoted to a replay of his feud with the print media over an off-the-cuff reference to Alvin Garrett (a diminutive black receiver for the Redskins) as ""that little monkey. . ."" Cosell cain, though, shift gears as smoothly off the air as on. He has high praise for ""a truly forthright columnist"" (David Kindred of The Washington Post, who supports his repudiation of prizefighting), virtually all the ABC network brass (save ""Machiavellian"" Roone Arledge), Sugar Ray Leonard (a Cosell find at the 1976 Olympics), and Bowie Kuhn (whom ""most sports-writers never really took the time to get to know""). In the main, however, Howard whales away at anti-Cosell forces, leaving the distinct impression he's a spoilsport who protests all too much. Ponderous ponderosity from one who could have done much better.

Publish Date
Publisher
G.K. Hall
Language
English
Pages
563

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: I never played the game
I never played the game
1986, G.K. Hall
in English
Cover of: I Never Played the Game
I Never Played the Game
1985, Morrow
in English - 1st ed.

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Published in
Boston, Mass
Series
G.K. Hall large print book series

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
070.4/49796/0924, B
Library of Congress
GV742.42.C67 A35 1986

The Physical Object

Pagination
563 p. (large print) ;
Number of pages
563

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL2721483M
ISBN 10
081614110X, 0816141118
LCCN
86014978
Library Thing
26927
Goodreads
3109623

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
December 10, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
November 4, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
May 16, 2019 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
July 31, 2010 Edited by IdentifierBot added LibraryThing ID
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user Imported from Scriblio MARC record